Arkansas’ K-12 open enrollment slam dunk

In 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the LEARNS Act into law, laying the groundwork for robust K-12 open enrollment reforms to let students attend public schools other than their assigned ones. This year, state legislators and the governor finished the work they began two years ago, codifying Senate Bill (S.B.) 624 and House Bill (H.B.) 1945. These new policies significantly expanded the state’s within-district open enrollment program, improved transparency, and strengthened the appeals process for denied transfer applicants. 

These upgrades make Arkansas’ K-12 open enrollment laws the second-best in the nation, which will be a massive boon to the state’s 474,000 public school students. While most states have weak open enrollment laws, Arkansas’ latest reforms establish it as a national leader. 

The most important feature of the new laws is the statewide within-district open enrollment policy, which ensures that students can transfer to public schools other than their assigned one in their school district. Data from Florida, Delaware, West Virginia, and Colorado show that within-district transfers tend to be even more common than cross-district ones by a significant margin. If Arkansas families follow suit, school districts should expect to see the number of within-district transfers increase this fall as students take advantage of openings in nearby schools.

Combined with the state’s existing cross-district transfer policy, Arkansas students can now attend any public school regardless of where they live. Strong open enrollment policies help them escape bullying, access specialized courses, such as Advanced Placement (AP) classes, shorten their commutes, have smaller class sizes, and enroll in highly rated districts. Table 1 summarizes how these improvements are scored by Reason Foundation’s open enrollment best practices.

Table 1: Score changes from improvements to Arkansas’ open enrollment law

Another key improvement is the outstanding transparency provisions adopted at the state and district levels. Under the new law, the Arkansas Department of Education will publish a comprehensive open enrollment report annually, showing the number of transfers by district, rejected applicants, and why they were denied. These data help families and taxpayers hold districts accountable for their open enrollment practices.

Arkansas’ reports will be on par with the gold-standard open enrollment reports that Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction has published for more than two decades. This makes Arkansas the fourth state to fully adopt Reason Foundation’s state-level transparency recommendations.

Arkansas also made the open enrollment process more family-friendly by strengthening district-level transparency provisions. Now, districts must post their open enrollment policies and procedures on their websites. This information will help families know when, where, and how to apply for transfers. 

Lastly, the new law requires school districts to inform rejected applicants in writing why they were denied. This ensures a level playing field if rejected applicants appeal their denial.

In 2024, Arkansas scored 79 points, a grade of C+ on Reason Foundation’s K-12 open enrollment best practices. Now, as Table 1 shows, it scores 98 out of 100 points, second only to Oklahoma and surpassing states renowned as bastions of school choice, such as Florida and Arizona. Arkansas is one of only 10 states to codify both cross- and within-district open enrollment policies in law. 

More states should follow Arkansas’s lead and establish robust open enrollment programs, adapting to the new reality in K-12 public education. Thankfully, policymakers in other states have taken note. During the 2025 legislative sessions, policymakers in 14 states, including Arkansas’ neighbors Texas and Missouri, introduced at least 24 proposals that could codify statewide open enrollment policies. 

Moreover, these policies are widely popular with families–77% of parents with school-aged children support strong open enrollment laws, according to March polling by EdChoice-Morning Consult. Most families are eager for a more competitive education marketplace where they can pick their child’s school. But more importantly, these policies will help students enroll in schools that are the right fit for them.

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